Chapter 65: Delicious Brain Matter

I followed the light and saw that about 45 feet away, there was a mountain wall.

In other words, we had reached the deepest part of the cave, and it looked like a dead end ahead.

"Should we head back?" I asked Lorenzo.

"No, let's walk along the mountain wall and see if we can find that underground river. There might be another way out there."

I nodded, "Do you think Teddy and the others might have left through the underground river?"

"Maybe. They've been in here for a while, so they might have already found what they needed and left."

"Then whose scream was that earlier?" I felt a bit down. "And if they took the Cancer's Beneware..."

Lorenzo waved his hand, "Let it go. We can't force it."

After a short rest, it was already 9 PM.

Lorenzo and I walked to the mountain wall, turned off our headlamps again, and walked along the wall, using the light from the stones to guide us.

After a few minutes, we could pretty much confirm that this was a circular cave, but we still hadn't heard the sound of the underground river.

"Hey, Lorenzo, we saw two pillars earlier with the two brightest stars on them. Where's the third pillar?"

Lorenzo paused slightly, "Well, I looked for it earlier too. Besides those two, I didn't see any other stones that bright around."

"Well, Zack said there were three thick stone pillars. One belonged to the late Harlan, probably reserved for the leader of their lineage. Another, close by, was linked to Eldrick's Aquilonian friend's descendants. So according to The Ancestral Triad, the third stone pillar should be nearby."

Lorenzo stopped and turned to look at the distant stone pillars.

Despite covering a considerable distance, the circular nature of the cave and the intense brightness of those two stones allowed us to maintain clear visibility of them.

Not far from those two stars, there was a patch of eerie darkness.

"That dark spot should be the third stone pillar!" Lorenzo called to me, "Let's go back!"

According to our speculation, the third stone pillar likely hides the most important secret. Teddy and his group might have obtained the secret and tampered with the pillar, removing the brightest stone from it!

With a clear goal, we quickly returned to the stone pillars and walked towards the dark spot not far away.

After a few steps, Lorenzo suddenly stopped, "Shh, there's a noise."

In the dim light, we carefully leaned against a nearby stone pillar and listened. We heard a strange sound coming from the darkness, which, upon closer listening, sounded like chewing.

I lowered my voice and asked, "That wild boar is eating something?"

"I don't know what it is." Lorenzo took a dagger from his backpack and signaled for us to flank it from both sides.

I nodded, bit off a piece of the Bloodstone in my mouth, and prepared to spray it out if we encountered danger.

We split up and slowly approached the sound in the darkness.

A few breaths later, we finally saw the third thick stone pillar in the darkness.

Looking up, the top of the pillar was empty. The third brightest stone that should have been there had been taken.

Taking a couple more steps forward, I was swallowed by the darkness. The sound was right next to my ear.

The wild boar seemed to have found something tastier and started smacking its lips.

My eyes swiftly adapted to the darkness, revealing the wild boar on the ground, engrossed in its meal. Considering its prior sensitivity, it should have detected our presence by now. Why the lack of response this time?

Could it be that the food it was eating was that delicious?

As I was pondering our next move, Lorenzo, who had circled to the other side, suddenly flicked on his headlamp with a "click"!

A beam of strong light hit the wild boar!

Seeing what it was eating, I almost lost my breath!

A person lay on the ground, their head smashed open by the wild boar, which was sucking on the brain matter, seemingly enjoying an unparalleled delicacy. Even the strong light only made it instinctively step back before it continued eating!

I immediately identified the victim as Murray, realizing that the earlier scream we heard must have come from him.

Moreover, Murray was likely not killed by the wild boar. Otherwise, why would the wild boar only start eating him now, hours later?

"Fuck!" Lorenzo snapped out of it, cursed, and lunged at the wild boar's head with his dagger!

The wild boar was eating, making it the perfect time to kill it!

Whether it was too absorbed or simply didn't see us as a threat, the wild boar didn't evade when Lorenzo thrust at it. Instead, it continued to suck on Murray's brain matter with force!

With a "thud," the dagger struck the wild boar's head!

To our surprise, the dagger seemed to hit an iron plate, leaving only a scratch!

Lorenzo and I were taken aback as the satiated wild boar turned its attention towards Lorenzo, emitting a low growl.

Despite its smaller size of around 200 pounds, this wild boar possessed remarkably tough skin.

"Dennis, I recognize it now. This isn't a wild boar."

"If it's not a wild boar, then what is it?"

"It's a legendary beast—Burrowfiend!" Lorenzo said, trembling. "Pig-faced, sheep-bodied, it usually eats minerals and soil underground, and its favorite food is the brain matter of dead creatures!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the Burrowfiend leaped at Lorenzo's face!

He was prepared and sprayed the chewed Bloodstone from his mouth!

The Burrowfiend didn't expect Lorenzo to have the Bloodstone. It twisted in mid-air and kicked Lorenzo in the chest!

So the Bloodstone only hit the Burrowfiend's butt.

"Lorenzo!" I shouted, quickly picking up a stone from the ground and throwing it!

The Burrowfiend landed, ignoring the stone hitting it, and roared at me!

Seeing Lorenzo stand up, clutching his chest but seemingly not in too much danger, I stopped and taunted the Burrowfiend, "Fuck, if you have the guts, smash my head too. You ain't leaving here alive, that's for sure!"

The Burrowfiend seemed enraged by my contemptuous look and charged at me.

I hurriedly stepped back, looking for a chance to spray the Bloodstone on its face. To my surprise, the Burrowfiend executed a feint, turned back halfway, and instantly charged toward Lorenzo, who had just gotten back on his feet!